Author's note: SURPRISE! I thought since you waited so long for the previous chapter, and I got this finished so fast, I reckoned I might as well post this next one! :) Enjoy!

Ps. The sentences in bold marks a new part of the chapter, since I'm obviously not allowed to make a simple line between them...

When most had gone back to normal, and only Edmund was still in shock, Caspian asked him and his younger sister to sit down. They did as he said, while Edmund muttered something about pimples and shaving.

"Last night I didn't want to tell you about the many reasons for Peter's behavior", Susan began. "I see now that it was a mistake, and I would like to make that right." She cleared her throat and glanced at her siblings.

Lucy understood that she was to learn what they had bed talking about last night.

"He was happy once, you know. For a whole year after you were sent back to England, he was an entirely different person."

"Of course he was happy! He was once again High King of Narnia", Edmund interrupted.

"I assure you that it was more than that. He grew very fond of a special person, and he was determined to marry her. First I objected to it, but there really was something magical about them. They provided an atmosphere of perfect bliss and only to look at them would keep you happy for a week." Susan smiled at the memory. "When the wife suddenly took ill, barely six weeks after the wedding, and Peter virtually danced down the hallway, it came as no surprise when we were told that the queen was pregnant."

"So… Peter is… married?" Edmund said in astonishment.

"Yes, or… Well-"

"What happened to the baby?" Lucy interrupted.

Peter had not slept. He couldn't seem to be allowed that need. Instead he sat on the same spot as the night before. All of his body was numb and his face was sore and swollen from crying. He hadn't the strength to move, because every attempt he made proved that he was alive, and that meant he had to feel the pain. And the pain was excruciating.

Soon, an anxious, pitiful little maid would come through the door to do the unpleasant job of rousing him. Hopefully she would be too frightened by his horrid appearance to call for anyone. But as she entered the room and spotted the zombie-like king sitting on the floor by his bed, her already pale face turned white as a sheet. She rushed out twice as fast as she came in, and shouted hysterically. "The king is dead! The drunken king is dead!"

In the next moment two men darted into Peter's chamber and got down on each side of him. Someone briefly placed a hand before his nose.

"No, he's breathing. He is alive", said a voice from his left hand side. It was Edmund. He sounded relieved.

"Yes, but it is barely", said the other man, which was Caspian. "Help me get him up."

Edmund and Caspian pulled him up on his feet but they would not support him. They helped him to sit comfortably on his bed, with pillows supporting his back against the tall headboard, but they received no response from him. He just stared into the empty air, and Edmund admitted that he actually looked quite dead.

"Is there nothing we can do for him?" He put a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I don't know if there's anything anyone can do for him, I'm afraid", Caspian said with a low voice. "Except doing our best to keep him alive."

"Won't you try to get some sleep?" There was someone else in the room. Peter hadn't noticed when Susan came in, but there she was. "You need to get some rest."

"I'm not sure he's in a condition able of resting. Otherwise he would be sleeping already, but instead he looks like he hasn't slept in days." Edmund was wise as ever.

It was quiet for a long while, until Susan headed for the door. "I left the boy with Lucy. She must be wondering what is going on", she said calmly and left the room without another sound.

Caspian's gaze wandered around the room, at the bottles of strong Narnian wine and other liquids. "I wonder if he's had far too much or nothing at all…"

"How do you mean?" Edmund said.

"Well, the last two years he has been either madly drunk or quietly asleep. But he is awake and won't say a word, I'm not quite familiar with this situation."

The voices around him faded as Peter felt a sharp headache and the room seemed to be spinning. His entire body was screaming for sleep but it could not be provided with it. He was too tired to sleep. And every time he closed his eyes, even for a second, there was something in him to open them again. There was something haunting him, not allowing him to rest.

Suddenly the room was empty. He had been unaware of being left alone. Nor had he noticed that he had been crying again. Not until he felt the puddle of tears in his lap, but he didn't care about it. There was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't in control of his own body. Therefore he was surprised when he could actually feel the slightest hit on the bed frame. The mattress rocked a little and there was the sound of short, swift breaths as a small hand reached to wipe the tears of his face.

"Don't cry, daddy. I feel sad when you cry." Eldarin stared at his father with big shiny eyes and the corners of his lips pointing downwards. "Mommy isn't sad, is she?"

Peter felt a sting in the heart to think about it, about her, but for the first time since his son was five months old, he allowed himself to.

"I-", he began but had to clear his throat to get a decent sound out. "I hope she isn't."

Eldarin stood straight up, right beside him and still didn't reach over Peter's head. He leaned forward and placed a loud and wet kiss on his cheek, almost looking a bit proud of finally being spoken to.

"I love you, daddy." He smiled big and then crawled up close beside his father.

Something was different. Caspian could feel it. He gazed out the window, where everything was white and cold, but it looked the same as yesterday. The change was inside the castle. It was so quiet.

"Susan!" he cried out as he rushed towards the nursery and found it empty.

"What's the matter?" she panted as she showed up in the doorway.

"Where is the boy?"

Susan stopped to listen for a second and felt the panic creeping up on her. Eldarin could be anywhere. Maybe kidnapped, maybe… killed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she was carried away by her damaged imagination.

"Don't worry", Caspian said, scared to death himself. "He might still be playing under Peter's bed. Maybe he just hasn't noticed him yet."

Susan dried of her tears and nodded. It was possible. Caspian was probably right.

By that time, Edmund and Lucy had joined them and wondered what was going on.

Caspian pushed the door open to Peter's chamber. It was just as quiet in there, and it had been all morning.

Susan gasped when she stepped inside and sneaked closer to her brother's bed. The tears were back and impossible to stop at the sight of the king, finally asleep, head to head with the little prince.